Original Stream
by Alumina
Summary: Lance travels through Hoenn to protect Kara while in search of a mysterious figure that captured Misty a few weeks before. Under revision... again. I don't own Pokemon. Double update.
1. Prologue

**A/N: This is the Original Stream prologue that I hope will clear up a few things in the first few chapters that have been posted.**

* * *

A cloaked man stared intently at a computer screen as a scientist wearing a lab coat typed rapidly on a keyboard. What looked like a DNA strand slowly spiraled in a rectangular box as what looked like only a piece of DNA tried to merge with it. A red "X" suddenly appeared over it.

"I told you it wouldn't work," the scientist said, running a hand through his hair to relieve some of the stress.

"It has to. Is there a way to stabilize modified Pokemon DNA?"

"Yes, and even if it does work in the simulation it may not in real life," he typed some more and a green check-mark appeared.

"Of course it will. There's a better chance of this working than finding a Groudon."

"I have a different plan and it will succeed. Who said I couldn't just create one? You also never told me why you want to do this."

"Because human-turned Pokemon are powerful. I just need to find the right test subjects." _Now all I have to do is create a Pokeball that will hold them and make them stronger. Of course will be be at the cost of their sanity…._

A large, snake-like Pokemon made of rocks dove into the ground. Its opponent, a large, white seel-like Pokemon, waited until the last minute before using its tail to jump out of the way, evading the Dig attack and at the same time using a beam of multiple, soft colors to take the Onix out, ending the battle between the Elite Four members Prima and Bruno. The Elite Four of Indigo Plateau were holding a round-robin-style tournament to see who would get to battle the current Champion, Lance.

Because she lived in a small town nearby, Kara knew a lot more about the Elite Four –including knowing the members personally- than most people. Having been the final battle, the scores came up on a large, screen. A Ghost/Poison-type user, Agatha, had won twice. It was common for her to be the victor of the monthly tournaments.

This time, though, there wouldn't be another battle. A voice came over the speaker system, announcing that Lance had to leave on short-notice due to a Team Rocket raid in a town somewhat far away. Kara sighed and shook her head. Even with a voice-changer it was still possible for those who knew him well to recognize that as Lance. He only ever did that when either a) he was bored and didn't feel like battling, b) half the time it was either be did or didn't want to battle Prima or c) he really did have to go on a mission of some sort and wanted to announce it himself. In exchange for this, those who came got to speak with the Elite Four and got free tickets for the next tournament.

Everyone that had been watching dispersed, a lot of them going to talk with the other Elite Four members. Kara got up and walked out of the stadium. A lot of people were walking around the city, many of them having a Pokemon or two out. Kara walked over towards a small shop that had souvenirs and even candy that could only be found there. The person working there looked up. "The Rage Candy bars are sold out again. I didn't know they would be so popular here."

"Bruno is addicted to them. Is it really that surprising he'd demand a new kind of them to be made here and then buy all of them when he can? I'm here to get jellybeans."

"True. You're lucky, there's one bag left," he got it out from behind the counter.

"Again?" Kara paid for the candy.

"Yup," his attention was turned to several other customers.

Kara left and walked over to a bench that was near a fountain and sat down. She opened the bag of jellybeans and was just about to eat a couple when a whoosh came from behind, followed by a soft thud.

A Dragonite looked at her and the candy before stretching out one of its hands. Kara gave it a small handful, smiling that the Pokemon's enthusiastic nod of thanks.

"Dragonite!" Lance ran up to it. "You shouldn't go around and beg for candy like that. You're spoiled," he turned to Kara, who was offering him to take some of the candy. He paused before taking a handful. Dragonite rolled its eyes.

Lance sat down next to Kara, slowly eating the candy.

"How come you haven't started training yet? You've always talked excitedly about it."

"Everytime I get a change the Starters are always already picked."

"If there were Starters left, which would you choose?"

"Either Squirtle or Totodile; depending on where I'm going to train."

"None of the others?"

Kara shook her head.

"Do you know that you can have any Pokemon for a Starter?"

"Really?"

"I know someone that should be able to get a Water-type for you."

"When?"

Lance laughed lightly at how she asked and her expression. "We'll have to fly there."

"Okay… Shouldn't you tell the others…?"

"Because of my job I have to leave unexpectedly a lot. Agatha takes over for me then," he helped Kara onto Dragonite's back before climbing on behind her. Dragonite ran a few steps before taking off.

Far away in a base in a different region, a young man wearing a red and black uniform was watching two Blaziken spar, the slightly larger one teaching the other various techniques, as it was older. When they paused for a break he walked over to the more experienced Pokemon, taking out something out of his pocket. Now he just had to-

"What the $*# do you think you're doing?"

He cringed and turned to see an older member of the team he belonged to. A Raichu stood at his side. "I need some Blaziken DNA for my project and yours is powerful."

"You're not getting any."

"Why not?"

"Because I know you. You're going to get a clone of it created so you have a powerful Pokemon right away."

"That's not exactly true. I have a different plan in mind and it will only work with your Blaziken."

"If you touch it I'll-" his attention was turned to one of his Pokeballs that rocked slightly. His demeanor instantly changed. "Fine," he gave his Pokemon a nod and it plucked a few, loose feathers and gave them to the younger member.

"Just don't do anything stupid, okay Ventus?" a female member around the age seventeen wearing the same uniform walked over and patted her Blaziken. "Did you learn a lot?" Her Pokemon nodded.

"That reminds me. There's something from a distant region I need to get," Ventus put his arm around her shoulders. "You'll help me, right Natalie?"

"Remove the arm or I'll ask Blaze to break it off."

Ventus slowly looked up at the older, Admin-ranked member that was leaning against a wall now. The look on his face said he'd gladly do it even if he wasn't asked.

"Three-two-"

Ventus stepped away. "His rank is higher than yours, he won't listen to you!" He hoped those words were true.

"And my rank is higher than _yours._ Go ask Pyro or someone to help you. Brodie is an expert at theft, you could ask him, too."

"He and Galen are still on their mission," Blaze said. "Pyro is still recovering from that idiotic idea of raiding Team Aqua by himself."

"Even he should have known better than to attack Shelly from behind. He's lucky he got out of there without serious injuries unlike the last time."

Feeling ignored as they continued to talk, Ventus walked away. He would just go and capture the Target himself.

Dragonite landed outside of the Cerulean City Gym. Lance got off before Kara to help her slide off. "Thanks Dragonite. Take a good rest," he recalled it. He turned to Kara. "I know the Gym Leader here. She's an expert on Water-types." Kara followed him into the Gym. Misty was standing next to a large pool what multiple Water-types were swimming in. She looked over, greeting Lance.

"This is Kara. She's going to start training soon and I thought you could help find a Water-type for her."

Misty was immediately in front of Kara. "You're interested in Water-types, too? How much do you know? What kind are you hoping to train?"

"Out of all the Starters I would get one of the Water-types; I know a good amount, and a cute one?"

"There are a lot of cute Water-types. This time of year the Tentacool are migrating, so getting one will be easy." A pink and white coral-like Pokemon walked up to her. A small, white Pokemon covered in red and blue triangles rode on its back. Misty picked up the small Pokemon. Kara stared curiously at the other.

"Corosola, a Water and Rock-type," Lance explained. "I did hear they're appearing near the Cape."

"Really?"

"Yes. We could stay there for a few days."

Misty nodded eagerly. "Just let me go pack a few things." She ran off.

"If another Pokémon chooses you for its Trainer, you won't be too upset, right? Sometimes a Pokémon chooses who it wants."  
"I didn't know Pokémon did that."

"Dragonite chose me when it was a Dratini."

Misty came running back. "C'mon let's go!"

As they walked out of the Gym Lance looked around.

"Is something wrong?" Kara asked.

"No, I just remembered right now it might be a bit dangerous because its Gyarados mating season," Misty cringed at that, "so it might be a good idea to leave Togepi here. Dragonite can take care of it."

"Isn't that your strongest Pokémon?" Misty began to look nervous.

"I have others," he sent out his Pokémon. "Its taken care of baby Pokémon before."

The Dragon-type nodded. Misty reluctantly set Togepi in its hands. "I'll be back in a few days, okay?"

Togepi nodded.

"And no teaching it new moves." Dragonite hung its head in disappointment. "I know you."

A cloaked figure stood on top of a building, watching and waiting. Three humans walked out of the Gym, the two females having black and orange hair, and the male having spikey, red hair. The Champion? Perfect, and with two to go with him. The Champion sent out his best Pokémon and after a few moments the humans began to leave. The Dragon waved and walked back into the Gym, carrying something in its hands.

That was strange, he never left it behind. This would be easier than expected. The figure sent out a black Charizard, climbing onto it to follow the Trainers.

It wasn't until sunset they decided to stop for the night.

"We should get there in two days," Misty said.

"That's good," Kara looked over at Lance. He had been acting strangely since they left and at any sound he nearly sent one of his other Pokémon out. "Is something wrong?"

"I guess it's been a while since I've been here," he immediately gripped again at the sound of flapping wings. A Murkrow flew overhead, crying out. "Or maybe I'm a little paranoid. I'm going to get some firewood." He got up and left.

"I'll get any that's nearby," Misty said. "If you want anything along with the Mystery Soup tonight you can get it out." She walked a short distance away, already finding a branch lying on the ground.

After several moments Lance returned, dropping the wood he collected on the ground. Something about how he was acting showed he was uncomfortable and worried about something.

Misty brought over what she collected. "Is something wrong?"

Something flew through the air and it hit her in the shoulder, causing her to cry out in surprise. There wasn't much time to worry about it. Two more of what had just come flew through the air and Lance pushed Kara out of the way to get one of the things in his arm and the other in his leg. He collapsed to the ground. "Whoever it was is gone now."

"Is that what you were worried about?"

"Yeah… I encountered him before…"

"Are those tranquilizers?" Kara asked, her eyes widening at the darts.

Misty took hers out. "My arm is numb, but that's it."

"What about you, Lance?"

His words came out in a jumbled mess and he continued to speak although it was difficult to understand him. Kara quickly removed the darts, finding that they were empty. She set her hand against Lance's forehead, causing him to flinch. "He's got fever!" he winced at that, too.

"Let's move him over to the shade," Misty said, helping Kara move Lance. They could do little more than drag him, although he didn't seem to register that fact. "We need to get his temperature down."

"I'll worry about that. One of the darts was intended for me. I have some canned soup in my backpack. That'll be quicker than making it from scratch."

Misty sent out a starfish-like Pokémon with a jewel in the center of its body. "Staryu, help Kara with whatever she needs." The Pokémon bowed slightly, the only way it could nod.

Kara set a damp cloth on Lance's forehead. He continued to mumble incoherently and wince at the pain.

"How are you feeling?"

"I've been better. I'll be fine in the morning," Misty said.

Misty had begun to show signs of a slight fever and ached a little, but it could be ignored. Interestingly enough just before they decided to go to sleep Lance's fever had gone down enough they didn't have to worry about him. Even so, Kara fell into an uneasy sleep.

Kara was woken up by screaming the next morning. Not from fear, but from joy…. A Vaporeon was examining itself before looking into a puddle.

"Misty?"

The Vaporeon nodded. "THIS IS AMAZING!" All though she spoke in Pokémon, it was easy to tell what she said.

"So that guy only wanted to turn you into a Pokémon?"

She shrugged and began poking herself to make sure it wasn't a dream.

Kara looked over in Lance's direction, seeing he had turned into a Blaziken. He was still sleeping until Misty hit him with a Water Gun. He stared at her and then at his hands. He looked back at Kara, knowing she wouldn't be able to understand him. He got up and walked over to the bag he had brought and dug through it before finding what he wanted: an ear piece. He tossed it to Kara, motioning for her to put it on and spoke after she did.

"It allows you to understand Pokémon. Silph Co. wanted me to test it but I thought it would be put to a better use if a new Trainer gets to use it."

"Do you like being a Pokémon? Misty loves it." Misty was creating a fountain with Water Gun.

"Well…." Lance created a fireball between his hands, making it smaller by closing them and making it bigger by spreading them. As he did this multiple times he mouthed "bigger smaller bigger smaller BIIIGGER SMAAALLER biggersmaller!"

"I take that as a yes. Why would that guy turn you into a Pokémon?"

"I don't' know. It's amazing he hasn't come back for us yet."

Misty stopped using the attack and walked over to her bag, trying to open it in search of food.

Ventus returned to the base, pleased with how his plan had turned out.

"I didn't need your help after all, Natalie. I got her by myself."

"Congratulations," Natalie said sarcastically, her voice coming over the speaker system, "you just outsmarted a seven-year-old." At hearing that everyone in the room turned and stared.

"How…?" He glared at Raichu. "You did this…." The Pokémon nodded.

"Of course it did. It hates you," Blaze said.

"It can't be smarter than me."

Natalie spoke up. "I can set up an IQ test for you."

All of the other members found that amusing and began to agree.

"After I complete my plan. I'm going to meet up with someone." He quickly left.

Blaze smirked. "Coward."

It had been two days since Lance and Misty got turned into Pokémon and Misty continued to find more and more things to love about it. Kara as sure Lance was enjoying it a lot more than he was saying. He sat comfortably against a tree, watching Misty play in a stream.

"Kara, do you have any more jellybeans?"

"Sorry, no. You've been craving them a lot lately."

"They're good. A Pokémon is your best friend once you give it jellybeans, you know."

"Just because you are one right now doesn't mean you can act like it."

"I can have a little bit of fun, can't I?"

Misty climbed out of the stream, joining them. "I always wanted to be a Water-type. I'm going to be sad when it's over."

"Getting to experience once is better than not at all," Lance said.

"You're just upset because Pokémon don't need sunblock," Kara said. "Admit it."

"I'm… allergic to sunlight," he smiled.

"No you're not. Redheads burn easily and you're just happy that you won't."

"I-!" Lance stood up, scanning the skies.

"What's wrong?"

A stream of fire came down from the sky. Lance picked up both Kara and Misty and jumped out of the way. A black Charizard descended and the cloaked figure jumped off.

"I finally found you," he said. "It's useless to resist. Just come peacefully."

"They'd never to that!" Kara shouted.

"They don't have much of a choice," he took out a pitch black Pokeball, "see this? It can capture any Pokémon and make it stronger. Now only if those fools in Orre would have waited to begin their project. Now some kid is capturing their Shadow Pokémon. I'll be able to recreate it in Hoenn!"

"Shadow Pokémon?"

"Pokémon that have been turned evil," Lance explained.

"What?"

A small sphere appeared in front of Misty and floated to the sky, causing rain to fall. For a moment she turned semi-transparent, attempting and failing at an attack. The cloaked man threw the black Pokeball at her. The sphere opened even before it hit, capturing her…

"MISTY!" Lance shouted as the sphere returned to its owner. He growled and sprang forward. An electric attack came down on him, making him collapse. He shook slightly from the paralyzing effects of it.

The cloaked man turned to see someone wearing a similar cloak. "You came to help me!"

"I came to make sure you didn't do anything stupid." A Raichu stood next to him, flicking its tail.

"Just let me get the Blaziken."

"The Vaporeon will be enough."

"I'm not leaving until I get the other one. OW!" He glared at Raichu as it threatened to poke him with its tail again.

"You can either come back peacefully or I can have Raichu knock you out and drag you back."

Raichu's expression seemed to say "gladly" as electricity cracked between its paws. The figure paused before climbing back on his Pokémon. Kara was at Lance's side, asking if he was okay. This distraction prevented her from seeing where the two men went.

"…Cheri…"

"What?"

"Find… Cheri Berries… they look like cherries."

Kara nodded and ran off. She looked around frantically but even after searching for over an hour she couldn't find anything. She stared to head back, and half-way there, resting on a stump, were several, cherry-like berries….

Kara looked around, finding no sign of anyone nearby. She waited around for a little longer before taking the berries, leaving a note apologizing, explaining why she needed them and some money in exchange.

Kara crushed the berries inside of a bowl and mixed it with water before helping Lance drink by tipping the bowl a little. That's when she noticed another dart in his shoulder.

"Where did that come from?"

"We can worry about that later," Lance said. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Kara unpacked a blanket and pulled it around him. She crawled into her sleeping bag and dozed off.

She awoke the next morning to find that Lance had woken before her and there wasn't any sign of him. A Jolteon sat near the river's edge, staring at nothing. He turned into a Jolteon…? Kara walked over to him. "Lance?"

He looked up at her. "It's my fault. I should have been able to do something. I shouldn't have even asked her to come…!"

"Lance, it's alright. We can save her."

Lance just stared up at her and let out a soft sigh, setting his head on his paws.

Unable to think of anything else, Kara said the first thing that came to her mind: her vacation plans. Capturing a Pokémon now wouldn't be right considering what just happened.

"I'm going to Hoenn for a while."

Lance lifted his head. "You are? Than I'm coming with you."

* * *

**A/N: Blaze is from the animated fanfiction series Pokémon Gangster by BlazeTheMovieFan. I asked to use this character.**

**And Natalie is a submitted character by emo1neko.**

**These OCs fully belong to their creators.**


	2. VS Deathtrap

**A/N: I'm posting my original Pokemon fanfictions now. The Changed Ones is about four-five years after this takes place.**

**There is more to the beginning of this (both the chapter and the series- about eight chapters) but it's very amateurish. Believe me, you do not want to read it. **

**Because the original series is being written, I am accepting ideas and I'm going to have an OC Contest for a rival character. Look at my profile for details.**

* * *

Kara stared out at the sparkling, blue ocean from where she stood on the ferry's deck. Sunlight reflected off the gentle waves. "It's so beautiful…. Hoenn in an island region, right?" she turned to the fox-like Pokemon with yellow, spikey fur and an equally spikey white mane that was lying down nearby, also staring out at the waves, but lacking the enthusiasm she had. He didn't respond.

"Lance?" Kara asked. He'd been like this for a while now, ever since their friend Misty got turned into a Vaporeon and was captured by a cloaked figure who spoke of recreating a "Shadow Pokemon" incident that happened in Orre not even a month earlier. After Lance heard she was planning to travel through Hoenn he decided to come along to protect her.

The Jolteon looked up at her, his dark blue eyes showing the intelligence that matched that of a human. He was one, after all. "I'm sorry, what? I wasn't listening." His eyes also had something like sorrow in them, which was causing his unusual absentmindedness. His words sounded like Pokemon to anyone nearby, except for Kara, who wore an earpiece that was hidden under her dark hair. It translated most Pokemon speech, as it was only a proto-type that she was testing for Silph Co.

"That's okay. It was a rhetorical question."

Lance gave her a false smile and looked back at the ocean. "I couldn't save her…."

"That guy said he worked in Hoenn, right? You can save her then. And you can't blame yourself for what happened. He had a Pidgeot and that was when you were still a Blazeken." It was still unknown why he changed into a Jolteon shortly after that incident.

"I should have still been able to do something."

Kara opened the door to the room they were using, carrying a tray off food. Lance was lying on one of the beds staring at the TV, though it was easy to tell his mind was wandering. He looked up and jumped to the floor. Kara set a bowl of water and one filled with popcorn in front of him, respecting his decision of where he wanted to eat.

"It was pretty much the only thing that didn't require hands."

Lance nodded slightly, letting her know he didn't mind. He ate slowly just to make her happy and so she wouldn't have to worry about him going hungry.

Kara had gotten a thick, pale-colored drink of some kind and a salad for herself. She sat down at a table and changed the TV channel with a remote control, switching from the weather forecast to what looked like a Milotic performing some kind of dance.

"Whoa…." Kara stared, transfixed. "So pretty…." It was unclear if she was talking about the Pokemon or its behavior.

"Pokemon Contests are common in Hoenn," Lance explained. "It's a way some Trainers bond with their Pokemon."

"I wanna try," she spent the rest of the day flipping through the channels, finding other Contests.

Lance watched, too before falling asleep on his bed.

Early the next morning, they walked towards Little Root Town. "I can't wait to start traveling to get Badges and Ribbons," said Kara.

When they got to Little Root Town, a small blue Pokemon with a fin on its head, a pale blue fin for a tail, and orange cheeks ran past them.

"Was that a Mudkip?" Kara asked.

An overweight man with brown hair and a lab coat ran over. "Did you see a Mudkip ran past here?"

"Yeah, it ran that way," Kara replied.

"Thanks. That Mudkip is very timid, so it runs away a lot."

Mudkip ran back, scared of something and hid behind Kara's legs. A black crow-like Pokemon, a Murkrow, flew overhead, wanting to attack Mudkip. "Mudkip, use Water Gun!" Kara shouted.

Mudkip looked at her, and ran away again. Murkrow followed it and swooped down, grabbing onto it and carrying it off.

"We won't be able to catch up to it…."

"Wait here," Prof. Birch ran off and returned in a Jeep of some kind. Kara climbed into the back and Lance followed after hesitating, having a bad feeling that something not so fun was about to happen.

The moment the Jeep began to move both Lance and Kara were too terrified to even scream.

Murkrow dropped Mudkip and began to circle around. Mudkip ran off again. Kara recovered from the ride, slowly prying Lance's claws out of her clothes. He had barely shown any above-mild emotions lately, so his reaction was surprising other than the fact they could have possibly crashed and died. He calmed and jumped out of the Jeep, waiting for Kara.

"Can you get Mudkip back for me?" Prof. Birch asked.

Kara nodded. "Of course! I was going to your Lab to get a Pokedex anyway. I guess I'll have to wait a little longer. Besides, that Mudkip really needs help." She ran off.

Lance always kept around a few yards in front of her, looking around before continuing on. Where was the increased sense of smell when you needed it? That didn't matter when Mudkip cried out, revealing its position.

Mudkip had gotten cornered by Murkrow and was too scared to move. Murkrow's body lit up in a blue light.

"That's a Sky Attack. It's very powerful," Lance said. He began preparing for an electric attack when Kara ran in front of Mudkip, making Murkrow stop powering its attack.

"Don't get any closer to Mudkip," Kara warned. She picked up Mudkip then started to run away. Murkrow flew after her. Lance followed, letting the electric charge dissipate.

"Don't worry Mudkip I won't let that Murkrow attack you," Kara said.

"Kip!" Mudkip panicked.

"It's really mad at you. It's not the best idea to get a Murkrow like that mad," said Kara.

She stopped running. A fast-flowing river was in front of her, and Murkrow was flying at her with another Sky Attack. There was almost no escape. Kara let Mudkip out of her arms.

"Mudkip, get out of here while you still can. I'll deal with Murkrow," said Kara.

Murkrow changed the course of its attack, directed at Mudkip. Kara moved in front of it, the attack hitting her in the chest, causing her to collapse from for strength of it. Mudkip stared at her, surprised. "Mudkip, you have to get out of here, you won't survive very long against Murkrow. Don't worry about me. The attack just had more force to it than I thought."

Then Murkrow used Sky Attack again. "Mudkip, get into the water, now!" Kara shouted.

Murkrow was about to hit Kara. Mudkip jumped up from behind her and used Water Gun.

Murkrow was taken by surprise, but didn't get knocked out. It dove with Sky Attack again, but was knocked off course by a Thunder Bolt. A thin red beam hit it, recalling back to its Pokeball. Its Trainer was in the nearby woods and he walked off, having no concern his Pokemon attacked a human. "It's him. What's he doing here?" Kara wondered.

"Mudkip," said Mudkip.

"Prof. Birch is waiting for us. You don't like his driving, either?" she asked at Mudkip's terrified expression.

Lance ran up to her. "Are you hurt?"

"I'll be fine. I've been through worse."

"Really."

They started walking back to where Prof. Birch was waiting for them. Lance paused at seeing the Jeep. "I'm going to run back. For some exercise."

"You don't want to ride in that deathtrap, either?"

"Heck no."


	3. VS Aqua and Magma

Kara hugged Mudkip as if it would protect her during the ride back Prof. Birch's laboratory. She quickly climbed out of the Jeep when it came to a full stop and finally loosened her grip enough for Mudkip to breathe. Lance finally caught up and collapsed at Kara's feet, panting heavily. It wasn't that Prof. Birch had gone extremely fast, Lance just wanted to keep a very safe distance away.

Inside of the large building several other Mudkip were playing with orange and yellow chick-like Pokemon and green and red gecko-like Pokemon. The Mudkip Kara was carrying didn't seem to want to play with them. It complained slightly when Kara set it down and walked over to a bowl of Pokemon food.

"Your Jolteon is welcome to eat if it's hungry. It ran quite a bit today."

"He isn't-"

Lance nudged her, letting her know that it was fine. He slowly walked over to the food bowl and tried one piece of the Pokemon food, making a face as he forced himself to chew and swallow. At least he tried to act like a normal Pokemon….

"He's a bit of a picky eater," Kara said, the only thing that could explain for the "strange" behavior. It wasn't completely a lie, either, with Lance eating only once or twice a day since he usually skipped a meal or two.

"That is basic Pokemon food. I might have some for Electric-types somewhere…."

"I have some left." It was pretty much popcorn and dry cereal, but it still counted. And she had some berries, too…. She set her backpack on the floor and took out two round, blue Oran Berries and offered them to Lance. To her relief he eagerly accepted them, but probably because he wanted to get the taste of the Pokemon food out of his mouth.

"Are you planning on competing in the League?"

"I'm not sure…. Before I got here I saw a Contest on TV and it looked fun."

"Some Trainers compete in both. You could try that until you decide what you want to do."

"That could work."

Prof. Birch picked up a red, box-like machine of some sort and put it into another, larger machine that was probably for research. "I'll need to ask a few questions to register you in the League."

Later that night at a small Bed and Breakfast Kara was studying a user's manual for her Pokedex, which was called "Dexette" due to it being a "girl"; where the Pokedex used in Kanto and Johto, was called "Dexter" because it was a "boy", judging on the computerized voices, of course.

"Go to the menu and press both the arrow keys and the Enter button down," Lance said.

"Okay…" a new sub-menu popped up, one that had a GPS, radio, clock, and an alarm system. "How-"

"I got a Pokedex too and I was playing with it. The inventors of devices that have the same functions don't want the sub-menu noted in the manual. Pokegear and Pokenavs wouldn't sell as much anymore because of it."

"I heard Pokedexes are available in other colors. What was yours?"

"Black. Clair got stuck with a pink one."

"It's amazing you're still alive." From what she heard of the Blackthorn Gym Leader's temper…..

The next morning Kara sat at a table in the dining area, waiting for the pancakes she ordered, along with the cut waffles she got for Lance.

"Are you sure you'll be able to eat them?"

"You offered," he stayed next to her on the floor. Once in a while his ears pricked at sounds that he took no interest in.

"You were almost drooling at the picture of them." If he took that much interest in a type of food, then he'd be more likely to eat it.

One of the few people that worked there brought the food in on a tray. The cut waffles were loaded with whipping cream and various, colorful berries and chocolate and caramel syrup. Lance gave a questioning look to Kara before eating the food when it was set in front of him.

The pancakes had the same toppings, along with crushed peanuts.

"Let me know if you need anything else," the waitress walked to another table to take that order.

"Hopefully we'll be able to get to Oldale Town tonight," Kara said between bites of food.

"I checked a map earlier. I didn't think it would be that close. What?" he asked when Kara began to laugh.

"Your face is covered in whipping cream."

By the time they got close to Oldale Town, it was late. Nothing that exciting had happened during the walk. Something mostly brown and white streaked past, and a man wearing what looked like pirate clothing ran past, shouting for it to come back.

"Is it Halloween here?" Kara asked.

"No," his attention was turned and he moved closer to Kara, his body language translating to he sensed what could be danger and, if necessary, would protect her.

Two people that looked kind of like pirates walked up to her. "Did you see a Team Magma member named Brodie around here?" the female pirate asked.

"No? I don't even know who Team Magma is," said Kara.

"Let me know if you see Brodie. It may be hard because he's known for being a master of disguise," said the female pirate, "by the way, name's Shelly."

"Um, okay."

Shelly began to leave, giving orders to the pirate that stood next to her. She continued on, talking to her Mightyena.

The other pirate snickered. "Being an Admin, she should know all of the members that she commands," he turned to Kara, "don't tell her. Team Magma just may spare you if you listen." Another pirate, the one that had run past before, ran over to him, holding up a small, brown, dirty sack triumphantly. "Got it!"

Lance stared at the wriggling sack. His ears pricked at a sound only heard by him and he growled softly.

Both pirates stared at him, the one holding the sack taking interest. "Another one?"

"Another what, Ventus?"

The sack began to swing back and forth now, cries coming from it. Ventus grabbed onto it with his other hand. "Stop it!"

Lance launched a Thunder Wave, hitting Ventus's wrist to startle him into dropping the sack. He ran forward to grab onto it with his teeth and dragged it back by Kara.

"Give that back!" Ventus reached forward for it before the other pirate stopped him. "Forget it. We need to report back."

"It's my project; I can do what I want with it."

A muffled protest came from the sack. Lance slowly walked forward, growling menacingly.

"You'll have another chance to get it back, don't worry about it."

Ventus stared at Lance thoughtfully. "True..." he shrugged and started to grab for the sack again, and protested when the other pirate grabbed him. "Don't forget I have a higher status than you, Brodie."

"I'm the one that was trained in martial arts."

Ventus paused and thought things over. "If I go back for it later…" he nodded. "Lead the way!"

Brodie rolled his eyes and began dragging Ventus away.

Kara looked around to see where Shelly was. "I guess she already left…."

Lance wasn't listening to her. He pulled at the knot that tied the sack shut, using his short claws to tear at it. It eventually came loose and a brown, white, and yellow Pokemon crawled out. It resembled a flying squirrel.

"What is that?" Kara asked.

"Another human," true his sense of smell wasn't very good, but he could tell the difference between human and Pokemon. "She's an Emolga; a rare Flying-Electric-type found in region called Unova."

The Emolga-turned human shook her head. "I thought I was gonna die! It's really stuffy in there!" She blinked. "Did you just talk?" Her accent was sounded somewhat foreign.

"I'm a human, like you."

She stared at him before looking down at her paws. "I'm cute and fluffy?" She flapped her arms, testing the fur between her front and back legs. "Wings?"

Lance pointed towards a nearby tree with a paw. "Climb that and jump."

"What?"

"Trust me."

She looked up at Kara. "If I fall, catch me." She ran up the tree and walked onto a branch before jumping. The extra fur inflated slightly, allowing her to glide on the air. "I'm flying!" she landed on the ground and ran back up the tree, jumping again. A gust of air came from behind her, causing her to crash into a nearby tree. "Ow."

Lance took a few steps forward, relaxing when he saw she was okay.

She walked over to Kara. "Do you have something to eat? I haven't had anything in _daaays_."

"I might have something," she took off her backpack. "What's your name? I'm Kara."

"Mara," she held out a paw. She looked over at Lance. "I recognize your voice from somewhere..." she accepted a granola bar when Kara offered it.

Kara got a bag of dry cereal and poured it into a bowl, offering it to Lance. He didn't look too interested.

"I'll eat it if he doesn't want it!" Mara exclaimed, raising a paw as if about to say 'Pick me! Pick me!'.

"Lance, please?"

Lance gave a soft sigh and pulled the bowl of food closer to him, slowly eating it.

"Lance... Lance..." Mara continued to repeat his name. "Where have I heard that name before?"

"He's the Champion of the Kanto Elite Four," Kara said. "Someone tried to capture him and turned him into a Pokemon in the attempt so it would be easier."

"Oh yeah! I was captured too! I didn't get the candy I was promised."

When they got to the Pokemon Center, Mara insisted on having her own bed despite how small she was. The room they got only had two beds….

"No fair," Mara said. She looked at Lance, tempted to tell him to sleep on the floor.

Kara got a jacket out of her backpack and folded it into a basket-shape. "Will this work?" she set it on the table next to one of the beds.

Mara climbed into it. "Good enough," she pulled the jacket's hood over her that served as a blanket. "Better." She fell asleep almost instantly.

"She's from the Sinnoh region. I can tell by her accent," Lance said. He lied down on his bed. "Ventus wants her for his project. We'll need to protect her."

"That's fine. At least we won't have any food that will go to waste."

The next morning they began to leave for Pedalburg City. Mara sat on Kara's head, enjoying the ride. "This is what it's like to be tall…." She looked down at Lance. "Hehe, you're short!"

He took no notice of her, which irritated her. She let go of Kara's head and glided down and walked next to Lance. "Did you hear me?" She waved a paw in front of his face. "Hello?"

Lance looked at her momentarily before his attention was turned to something in front of them. "Stay back."

"What? Hey!" Kara picked her up, setting her on her shoulder.

A young man wearing red and grey clothes walked over. His short, red hooded cloak had what looked like an "M" on it in the fashion of a mountain.

"He's from Team Magma," Lance explained.

"'Magma'?" Kara repeated.

The man seemed to hear that. "You know about us?"

"Not really. I only heard about you yesterday."

The man narrowed his eyes and then saw Mara. "That's the project Ventus was working on."

Mara squeaked and slid down behind Kara's back, clinging to her.

"Where did you get it?"

"Ventus dropped her."

Mara piped up. "Yeah! _Her!_ Not _it_, Dorkus!"

Tabitha ignored her. "Are you with Team Aqua?"

That was the other team? "No, and I'm not with Team Magma either."

That was the wrong thing to say.

"Then you're one of our enemies. I'm Team Magma's strongest Admin, Tabitha," he sent out a light gray and black wolf-like Pokemon with red and yellow eyes appeared. It was already weakened from a previous battle. "I will need to capture you."

Lance ran in front of Kara.

"Mightyena, Shadow Ball!" Tabitha ordered.

Lance hit the wolf with a Thunder Bolt, taking it out even before it could launch its attack.

Tabitha recalled his Pokemon. "I'll be sure to take you out one of these days. So be ready. I won't show any mercy." He left.

Mara shook her little fist at the Magma admin. "Hey! Fight us now, you little—" Kara removed the earpiece, happy that Mara's squeaks couldn't be understood.

Lance put a paw over her mouth, speaking to her, probably disliking her choices of words for her age.

Kara put the earpiece back on. "He can't understand you. I have a translator, so…."

"He should consider himself lucky then!"

Kara set up a tent in a small campsite. "Pedalburg City is still far away," she said.

"As long as it's got good food, the wait is worth it," Mara said.

Lance returned with some firewood and added it to the increasing pile before dragging some of them to another pile for the campfire.

He watched Kara as she started the fire and got a bag of marshmallows out of her backpack. Mara darted up to her. "S'mores?"

"Let me get the rest of the stuff out first." Kara made a little more than she wanted to, although Mara didn't mind. She ate all the leftovers. Lance only had two before he walked off a little ways, beginning to see if the area was safe. He stayed up most of the night, only allowing himself to sleep lightly. How could he have gotten Kara and Mara involved in this? Now they were in even more danger than before because both of the teams in Hoenn were after them. He'd heard about how dangerous they were from the Pokémon League, and yet let this happen…. He had let two more of his friends get into danger. And this time, he might not be able to save them.

* * *

**A/N:** Kimiko Heroux is the creator of Mara. She helped a little bit with this chapter.

Mara is in here because I needed a comedy relief character to replace the old one and that has another purpose later on.

I'm still looking for ideas and the OC Contest is still up.

Look at my profile for details.


	4. VS Numel

The sound of growling and sniffing woke Lance the next morning. A pack of Mightyena were walking around the small campsite; their behavior indicated they were looking for food. Thankfully Kara was still sleeping in her tent, and Mara was in a small hammock suspended between two tree branches. That didn't mean they were safe, though.

Lance stood up, growling menacingly. It was then he noticed a band around the largest Mightyena's leg had a symbol that looked like Team Magma's. One of the Mightyena walked too close to the tent where Kara was and that was enough to get hit by a Thunder Bolt. The wolf yelped and turned towards Lance. The other wolves did the same and slowly began to circle him.

Lance spread out his quills, beginning to resemble a porcupine. Needles made out of stiff fur flew at the Dark-type Pokemon. Most of them managed to dodge the Pin Missile and the few that didn't quickly recovered. The larger Mightyena stayed back, barking orders. More than half the Mightyena began using Sand Attack, creating a cloud of dust and sand. Hearing where the enemies were was out from barking and Lance managed to turn in time to narrowly avoid the full blow from a Shadow Ball.

When he leaped to dodge a Mightyena swept past him with an Iron Tail, hitting him along the side. He launched another Thunder Bolt, hitting several of the wolves and making them retreat slightly. The larger Mighytena took a few steps forward, growling. The rest of the Mightyena backed away. Lance began powering for a Thunder Bolt. The Mightyena suddenly bolted forward with unexpected speed and hit Lance with an Iron Tail, throwing him into the air before biting his leg.

Lance cried out in pain, letting the built-up electricity loose. The wolf backed off a little only with minor injuries. Lance took a step forward, nearly collapsing on his injured leg. The wound felt like it was burning. The Mightyena looked at the rest of its pack and nodded. The all began running off, barking and howling.

Lance waited several moments before limping over to Kara's tent, and lied down several feet away, appearing as if that's where he had slept for the night. He greeted Kara when she opened the tent flap.

"Was something going on?"

"I… talk in my sleep."

"Really?"

Lance nodded, part of him hoping it was convincing.

Mara glided down from where she had spent the night and collided with the tent, sliding down the side.

"What's for breakfast?"

Mara studied a map as she sat on Kara's head, trying to find the quickest way to Pedalburg City. Frustrated, she crumpled it up and threw it to the ground. "Screw the map! We go that way!" she pointed towards a random spot between the trees.

"What makes you say that?" Kara asked.

"It's a shortcut!"

Kara looked at Lance. "What do you think?"

"We can try." He waited until she walked ahead before continuing. His leg burned even more now, and soon it would be impossible to hide his limp.

Late that afternoon the outskirts of a city could be seen.

"Told ya!" Mara said, clearly proud she had been correct. "We should go get food, first."

"We will." She already learned there was no easy way of winning an argument against Mara when it came to food.

"The Pokemon Center here has good food," Lance said. While they were busy eating he'd just go find a few Rawst Berries to take care of the injury….

"I want ice cream!" Mara declared.

Kara nodded. "I could go for some, too."

So much for that plan….

They walked past the Pedalburg Gym and Kara stared at it. "Someday I'll challenge the Gym Leader here."

Just then, Norman walked out of the Gym, followed by Tabitha. "If you don't want me to have my Mightyena attack your kid, then you'll follow me."

Norman glared at him but gave in. "I'll come with you, just don't hurt Max," said Norman.

"Hey, it's you! You better release Norman now! You're using one of his weaknesses against him. That is the lowest and dirtiest trick in the book!" said Kara.

"What book?" Mara asked.

Tabitha glowered at her. "You again? You're causing enough trouble. Numel!"

A small yellow camel-like Pokemon with green on its back appeared.

Kara got her Pokedex out. "Numel, the Numb Pokemon. With a body that stores hot magma, it feels nothing if struck. But it can't bear to go hungry for even a second," said Dexet.

"It's a Fire-type..." said Kara. Lance took a few steps forward and his back leg nearly gave in on the final step.

"Numel, Flamethrower!" Tabitha ordered. Numel breathed out a long stream of fire.

Lance jumped in front of Kara, taking the full hit of the attack. He held back a cry of pain and gave a false smile when Kara asked if he was okay.

"Kid, you better get out of here!" Norman shouted.

Numel used a small burning cinders attack, Ember. An icy ball powered by a blast of water hit Numel, knocking it to the side.

"Where'd that come from?" Mara asked, looking around suspiciously.

A Mudkip ran in front of Kara. "Mudkip? What are you doing here?" Kara asked.

"Is that your Pokemon?" Tabitha asked.

Mudkip nodded.

"Uh, yes? Mudkip, Water Gun!"

"Dodge it, Flamethrower!"

Numel dodged the stream of water and used a similar attack, only the Fire-type version.

"Dodge and use Water Gun!"

Tabitha recalled his Pokemon after it got KO'd. "Now you probably want me to release Norman.

I'm not going to do that. You'll have to defeat all of my Pokemon." He sent out a Mightyena. The wolf used a Shadow Ball. Lance hit the sphere with a Thunder Bolt, dissolving the attack.

The Mightyena ran forward with a Take Down and jumped when Lance just managed to leap into the air to dodge. Lance landed awkwardly on his injured leg, and he tried to stand up but the pain became too much. Mudkip blasted another Water Gun at Mightyena, and this time Mara joined in with a (weak) electric attack.

Norman got a Pokeball out, silently sending a large, gorilla-like Pokemon out. Tabitha turned to see it and his eyes flickered between it, his Mightyena, and the team of Mudkip and Mara. He frowned as he calculated his chance of victory and recalled his Pokemon, replacing it with a large, blue bat. "Haze!" thick, black smog filled the area. It made everyone cough until it cleared. Tabitha was gone….

Norman recalled his Pokemon. "Thanks for helping."

"Why did he come here?"

He shook his head. "I'm not sure. He did bring up someone called 'Ventus'."

"Him again?" she looked over at Lance, concerned when he got up and limped forward stiffly for a bit.

"He's one of the stronger members of Team Magma. I did hear he was working on an experiment."

Mara jumped up and down. "That's me!"

Kara picked her up. "I know."

"That's it?"

"HER!" Mara loudly corrected. That seemed to get it across, though.

"They will be back for her. Stay at the Pokemon Center for the night in case Tabitha comes back."

"Ice cream first!" Mara demanded.

"I was planning to. She," she pointed at Mara, "wants ice cream. Bad."

Norman smirked. "The Pokemon Center has that." He turned back towards the Gym when his name was called. "Come back when you're stronger, okay?"

Mara happily licked at the ice cream in her bowl. Mudkip had its own bowl, eating slowly. Kara talked to it, sometimes her spoon not reaching her mouth. "So you came all this way to travel with me?"

Mudkip nodded. Kara got a black bandana from her backpack and tied it around Mudkip's neck.

She smiled. "You're so cute!"

"Hey, what about me? I'm cute too!" Mara said, she made her ears go back and got huge, innocent eyes.

"When we get to Rustboro City I'll call Prof. Birch. He's probably wondering where you are," said Kara.

Mudkip nodded. It jumped into Kara's backpack and fell asleep.

Lance was staying in the room they would be using that night. The bowl of ice cream he'd gotten was next to his leg, barely helping. He did eat a little bit once in a while to make it look like he was enjoying it slowly. He nudged it away after a little while, as it only started to make the pain worse. He eventually fell asleep, gladly escaping the pain.

The next morning Kara just finished ordering food for everyone when heard a familiar, false laugh.

She quickly spun around, a young Trainer with purple colored hair was talking to a girl who was about seven and a half and was short for her age. The girl had dark blue eyes and long dark brown hair in two pigtails and had a pink sweater. The girl was talking to the Trainer with her family's video phone.

Lance seemed to recognize the girl, a little surprised to see her.

The girl was enthusiastic about something. "That's awesome, Paul! I guess Grotle's been training a lot. You've really raised it well from a Turtwig! I can't wait to see you compete in the Hoenn League competition," said the girl, "I won't miss a second of it!"

"If that's what you say. It evolved late. But it's my strongest Pokemon, so I'll keep it," said the Trainer the girl referred as Paul. [A/N: Yes, the Paul from Veilstone. During this time he has different clothes, he has a dark blue jacket over a black shirt, dark colored jeans, and a normal, two-strap blue/silver backpack. And why is he willingly talking to the girl? It's safer than not.]

Kara glared at him. "Your Murkrow attacked my Mudkip!"

Paul looked at her, not at all surprised by her presence. "Your Mudkip? I guess you chose that weak thing for your Starter Pokemon? It's pathetic. You'd be better off with the strongest one you can find."

Lance glared at him and momentarily forgot that most humans couldn't understand Pokemon. "Any Pokemon is strong if you train it!"

Kara noticed the girl. "Who's that?"

Paul glared at Kara with a mix of anger and annoyance a hidden question in her voice tone that he didn't like. "She's just a girl I know."

"I have a name you know. And you just don't know me, we're friends. We've known each other for a long time!" said the girl.

Paul looked at her, annoyed by her enthusiasm. "I'm hanging up now," he had his hand over the Turn Off button.

The girl looked alarmed. "No wait, don't do that! I want to-"

Paul hung up. "She can be such a pest." He got up to walk over to a table where the nurse called him over, holding a tray with a Pokeball holder on one side and food on the other.

Kara's attention was turned when Lance tried to stand up, and stumbled a step forward before collapsing and crying out. "Lance…?" she knelt down next to him and touched him lightly.

Lance cried out again, louder and snapped at Kara, just stopping himself from sinking his teeth into her hand.


	5. VS Slaking

**I finally decided to update this. Over the next few days updates might be faster because I'll have a little more time to type the next chapters of Wasure rareta Kioku, Taken for Granted, and possibly the next Nuzlocke chapter along with a oneshot or two.**

**Updates for Colosseum will get more frequent now because I'm going to work on finishing it and Taken for Granted because I've planned out how many chapters each will have. **

**Updates for The Changed Ones will be super slow because I have to take it over mostly now as Kimiko Heroux is too busy with her other projects to work on it (other than a few parts that she wants to help with.)**

**This chapter wasn't Beta'd, so I'd like to know about any mistakes.**

Lance let go of Kara's hand. "Kara, I…" He flinched when Kara set her hand on his head.

"You're getting a fever! Why-"

"It wasn't important."

Kara called one of the nurses over. "He's getting sick and…"

Lance bit his tongue when several pink, egg-shaped Chansey lifted him onto a small, metal table on wheels. As long as he bit something, he wouldn't accidently attack anyone. That's when his injured leg could be seen.

"He was hiding it so you wouldn't worry." The nurse said. "It looks about a day old and has an infection…."

"We battled a Numel and Mightyena yesterday." Kara explained everything as she followed the nurse.

"It's possible he got into a fight you don't know about. It might take a while to treat him. You can go back and get something to eat."

Kara nodded and walked back to the cafeteria where Mara and Mudkip were already eating.

Paul was staring at her. "You spoke to it like it understood you. And it obviously has obedience issues."

"Any Pokemon can understand what you say and he was only trying to protect me!" She glared at him as he left. "Don't leave when someone is talking to you!" She sighed turned around to join Mara and Mudkip. A tall stack of large pancakes sat next to Mara along a plate of waffles and French toast. "Mara!"

It didn't take long for the small human-turned Emolga to finish all the food.

"Where do you put it all?" Kara stared at the empty spotless plates.

"Can I get popcorn or a bag of potato chips to go?"

Kara sighed. "I'll get one from the store. I need to get a few things anyway."

"A big bag," she spread out her arms. "I need my unhealthy dose of fats, oils and artificial flavors and colors."

"I need to show you the baked kind. They're healthier."

"Junk food is _supposed _to be unhealthy! That's what makes it so fun!"

"But what if the healthy kind taste better?"

Mara set a paw on her chin. "Hmm…. I can have even more then!"

"No you cannot. That's not the point."

"But I like the chips."

Kara sighed. "I know that." She looked up as a Chansey walked over, keeping pace with Lance, who was keeping most of his weight off of his now bandaged leg. Satisfied he was fine, the pink Pokemon waddled away.

Mara looked down at him, folding her ears back and made the most miserable expression she could. "Kara won't let me eat potato chips!"

"She just ate at least ten times her weight."

"Let her get what she wants."

Mara threw her paws in the air. "Yay!"

Kara gaped at Lance. "Why?"

"Just let her."

Mara jumped onto Kara's shoulder, pulling at her shirt. "We go get chips now."

Kara sighed. "Fine."

There was a television in the store and what was currently on was a battle of a Trainer against one of the Hoenn Elite Four members. Mara had a large bag of popcorn, shoving it quickly into her mouth as a method to calm herself as she watched a blue swan-like Pokemon with fluffy white wings and a Pokemon made up of three smaller silver Pokemon with two magnet "arms" each battle, each close to both winning and losing. Lance remained quite calm, and didn't seem at all surprised when Altaria just barely managed to win with a powerful, golden beam-like attack. He got up and limped over to Kara, who was finished shopping. Mara refused to move until Kara shook a bag of potato chips. She ran over, darted up Kara's pant leg, and onto her shoulder. "It's not super-size!"

"A bag of only one kind, or several each with a different flavor; your choice."

Mara nodded. "You're smart. Show me the goods."

"Once we get outside." Kara said, walking out of the store.

"We're outside!" Mara reached for the bag that Kara still had.

"Not yet."

"But you said 'once we got outside'."

"I didn't mean literally."

"I'm hungry!"

"When are you not?"

"I won't be if you give me the bag! I won't stop asking until you do."

Kara opened the bag and gave it to Mara. Mara held the bag open wide and breathed in deeply and loudly. "Artificial barbeque goodness!" She ate on potato chip at a time, crunching noisily as she enjoyed the flavor.

Kara sighed. "Why does she have to be a junk food addict?"

Up ahead outside of the Pedalburg Gym Paul and Norman stood a distance apart, each with a Pokeball in hand.

"He's this far already?"

Lance shook his head. "You don't have the challenge the Gyms in a specific order. If he believes he's strong enough he can try."

"Didn't he just start training?"

Lance shook his head. "He recently competed in the Kanto league and nearly won the tournament."

Paul noticed their presence. "Watch if you want." He sent out a black, savage-looking Pokemon with long clawed hands and had what looked like a feather for an ear and tail. Norman's choice was a large tan and off-white sloth-like Pokemon.

"Sneasle and Slaking." Lance said. He lied down. "This is going to be a _long _battle."

Kara sat down next to him, setting Mara next to her, earning a temporary glare before the potato chips became a distraction.

"Sneasle, Fury Swipes!"

"Focus Punch!"

Sneasle slashed at Slaking multiple times, the larger Pokemon didn't even react. When Sneasle paused, panting, the larger Pokemon suddenly stood up, its fist glowing as it punched at Sneasle.

"Ice Beam!" Sneasle cupped its hands around a blue sphere and an icy beam shot at Slaking, freezing its fist. "Swords Dance!" Sneasle spun around once, and kept repeating the action with each "again." "Slash!" Sneasle darted forward, its claws grew in size as they began to glow.

Kara stared, wide-eyed. "What is that?"

"A critical hit." Lance said.

Norman smirked. "Counter." Slaking's body began to glow and Sneasle barely touched it when the larger Pokemon rammed its arm against it, sending it flying and knocked out. Paul recalled it and sent out a Mightyena. "Poison Fang!"

"Poison Fang is like Fire Fang, right?" Kara asked.

Lance nodded. "Only much more dangerous. It's like Toxic and because of Slaking's Truant ability…"

Slaking twitched a bit and Norman took that as a cue for the next command. "Façade!" Slaking swung its arm hard enough to knock Mightyena off. The wolf landed on its feet and ran forward at the next command, Take Down. "Façade again!"

"What does Façade do?"

"Its power is doubled when the Pokemon has a status condition. Slaking is badly poisoned right now and along with its high attack power, Paul set himself up for a loss."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I made the same mistake."

"Mightyena, Hyper Beam!"

"You too, Slaking!"

The two golden beams collided, Slaking's being the strongest and easily overpowered Mightyena's. Paul frowned and replaced Mightyena with a sleek off-white Pokemon with long brown stripes down its sides. "Linoone, Rock Smash!" Linoone darted forward and hit Slaking with its glowing claws, continuing the attacks and easily dodging Slaking's.

"It's so fast…" Kara watched the Pokemon in amazement.

"Rock Smash isn't the strongest Fighting-type move, but it can lower a Pokemon's defense." Lance said, not having actually heard what Kara said. He glanced at Mara, only to find a large bulge moving around in the potato chip bag. He tapped one corner and the bulge pounced at that spot, moving the bag forward.

"Slaking, Slack Off!" Slaking's wounds began to heal.

"Linoone, Headbutt!"Linoone rammed its head against Slaking's chest and let out a soft cry, holding onto its head when it landed on the ground. Slaking twitched again, the healing stopping.

"Again!"

Mara crawled out of the bag, sighing happily. She began licking the colored dust off her fur and paws. "What's for lunch?"

Slaking rammed its arm into Linoone, knocking it out. Paul recalled his Pokemon. Mara gasped and began waving. "Hi Paul!"

Kara stared at her. "You know him?"

"Of course. We're best buddies!" She ran up to Paul and sat on his feet, smiling.

Paul just stared at her. Kara walked over and picked up Mara. "She does that."

"You feed it junk food?" Mara glared at him for that.

"She insisted."

"A spoiled Pokemon is useless."

"I'm not spoiled!" Mara folded her arms. "I thought you liked me!"

Lance limped over to Kara, glancing around. He had the crumpled up potato chip bag in his mouth, setting it down and put a paw on it.

Paul looked over at Norman. "I'll come back for a rematch later."

Norman gave a nod, paying more attention to his Pokemon's behavior.

Mara shook her tiny fist at Paul as he walked away. "Come back here! I'm not finished with you yet!" She shrieked when a Pokeball passed just over her head.

A teenage girl with long, blond hair walked over, a purple fennec fox was next to her. "I was told to get the Experiment back." She tossed a Pokeball in her hand.

Norman frowned. "What do you want, Natalie?"

"The Emolga. And because Tabitha failed to capture you yesterday, you come, too."

"You'll have to defeat me first."

Natalie nodded. "Espeon, Psybeam!"

"Hyper Beam!"

The golden beam overpowered the colorful one, Espeon barely having enough time to defend itself with a Light Screen.

"Calm Mind." For a moment the Pokemon glowed. "Quick Attack!"

"Reversal!" Blue spheres circled around Slaking and flew at Espeon, knocking it back, weakening it drastically.

"Calm Mind!" Espeon began to glow again, this time until even when it stopped its power-up a faint aura surrounded it. "Psybeam!"

"Punishment!"

The colorful beam hit Slaking as it charged. It knocked Espeon back at the last moment, beginning to collapse. Natalie picked up her near-unconscious Pokemon, petting it behind the ears, thanking it for how it did and recalled it. "I can see why you're wanted, now. Give me the Balance Badge and we'll call it even." Everyone stared at her, confused. "Ventus wants the Emolga back and Norman for some project. I don't take orders from idiots." She toyed with another Pokeball.

"I can't give the Badge to just anyone. You have to earn it." Norman recalled his Pokemon. "You already lost that chance when you joined Team Magma."

"I don't care. Hand over the Badge or the boy gets hurt." She sent out a black Pokemon decorated with bones, giving it a nod. The Houndoom turned and began to run down the road towards Paul.

**Natalie is an OC belonging to sparkxplug13.**

**If you would like a certain Trainer from the anime appear or for Kara to get a certain Pokemon I might consider it.**


	6. VS Flygon

**This might be the only time I'll post two chapters for this at once.**

Paul was unaware of the silently fast-approaching Dark-Fire-type. Natalie looked expectantly at Norman, waiting for him to give her the Gym Badge.

Lance got up to attack the Houndoom with a Thunder Bolt, although Mara had already gotten to the Pokemon and sat on its face, holding its horns as she screamed nonsense at it. Houndoom shook its head in attempt to throw her off, running sideways into a tree.

"Ooh! Apple!" Mara leaped up to catch the fruit as it fell.

Norman gave the Badge to Natalie, frowning as the teen recalled Houndoom; another not yet enlarged Pokeball in her other hand.

Natalie smiled, taking the Badge. "Thank you. I'm glad you understand." She turned to leave.

"Why do you need the Badge?" Kara asked.

"I have my own reasons." She continued on.

Kara looked at Norman. "Shouldn't you report her to the League? Or something? I'm sure the Elite Four could-"

Norman shook his head. "That's exactly what she wants. It will be better for her to compete in the League Tournament so the Elite Four can prepare for her."

"Oh…" She looked back, wondering where Mara was. A large pile of apple cores rested beneath the tree; a new core being added every few minutes. "Mara, don't eat those!"

"I can eat as many as I want! An apple a day is good for you. If I eat enough, I won't have to see the doctor for _years._"

"Isn't it a bad idea to eat that many?"

Lance nodded. His ears pricked and his attention was turned to a young boy that ran over.

"Norman, it happened again!"

"Where?"

"The same as always. Three campers got attacked. One of them managed to get their Magnaton's Tri- Attack to hit it. After that it crashed into the woods."

"What's going on?" Kara asked.

"A wild Pokemon has been attacking people in the Pedalburg Woods." Norman sighed. "Before now it never took on a group. This means it's beginning to attack unprovoked. I have to stop it before it injures someone badly."

"I can help. It'll be safer than just you going alone, right?"

"Yes, if it gets too dangerous than you'll have to come back here and tell the Gym Trainers what happened and wait for me to come back, alright?"

Kara nodded. "Okay." She looked back at Mara. "Come on, Mara… _Mara." _She sighed and got a single-serving-size bag of potato chips out of her bag and shook it. Mara stared at it and leaped down onto Kara's shoulder, reaching for the bag. Kara handed it to her and began to follow Norman.

"Try to stay within earshot. The Pokemon we're looking for might attack without warning." Norman had a white sloth-like Pokemon with a large tuft of red fur on its forehead walking in front of him, watching its behavior. Occasionally the Vigoroth would use its long black claws to mark trees; the distance between the mark and ground being out of reach of most of the other Pokemon in the forest so there wouldn't be any confusion later when they had to go back.

Mara stayed put, looking warily at the tree-tops. For fear of it being stolen she was going to wait until later to eat the contents of the potato chip bag and had given it back to Kara for safekeeping. "We won't be eaten, will be? I still haven't tried all the great food of the world, like the chocolate-coated-deep-fried-peanut better-pickle-bacon-grilled-Swiss-cheese sandwiches with sweet-and-spicy-orange-garlic-soy-sauce yet! Those sound good!"

Kara stared at her. "I'm going to regret asking this, but where do you get those?"

"There's a place in LaRouse City that sells them. They were invented by a girl that's probably about nine now. I read that even though the sandwiches sound terrible to some people, they're pretty good. Especially with mayonnaise and fried eggs. And marshmallows. I will add those. And ketchup"

"You do that."

"But what if I forget?"

Kara handed a small pencil and a notepad to her. "Happy?"

"Yes." Mara began scribbling notes. "Would it taste good topped with mint-chocolate-chip-cookie-dough ice cream and onion rings? And barbeque sauce?"

"I don't know how to answer that and I don't want to."

"Doesn't that sound good? It'll be even better with powdered sugar and granola!"

"Honestly, by the time you're done revising it, no." She watched Lance's movements, in case he snagged his bandaged leg on something. "When will we know we're close to it?"

"Well, that's a good sign." Norman pointed ahead to badly damaged or fallen trees and uprooted shrubbery. "Judging by the angle it's a Pokemon that can fly and it's injured."

"If it's a Flying-type, than the Tri-Attack might have made it worse, right?"

"That's what we want, actually. We'll have a better chance at helping it the weaker it is."

He continued to walk as Vigoroth cleared a pathway by tossing shrubbery and trees out of the way or slashing away branches. "We can worry about healing it later." He suddenly stopped and held out a hand in front of Kara. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"It's close. It came from-"

Loud screeching rang out, followed by a gust of wind. A large Pokemon came crashing through the trees and shrubbery, madly flapping its green and red wings, trying to stay airborne. It growled at the Trainers. The tip of its left wing was iced over.

"That's a Flygon." Norman said. "It shouldn't be here."

Flygon began screeching again. Norman pulled Kara out of the way of the attack made of sound waves. "Vigoroth, Fury Swipes!"

Flygot jumped up and clumsily flapped its wings, crashing to the side. It lashed out with its tail when Vigoroth got close to it. It tried flying again and crashed into some bushes.

"The ice shouldn't bother it that much, right?" Kara asked.

"No. It should just be slowed down."

Lance watched Flygon's movements, frowning. "Its tail."

"Tail?"

Flygon dodged another attack and crashed into a tree nearby, flailing its tail. The tip had what could be described as either scales or feathers. One was aligned with the tail and the other was off to the side. Somehow, it looked uneven.

"It can't fly." Norman said. "Those scales help stabilize it. It would be fine without the middle one with some practice."

"Is there a way to help it?"

"I don't know. That's why we have to get it to a Pokemon Center." He recalled Vigoroth and sent out Slaking. "Swagger."

Flygon lifted its wing to shield itself from the attack and ran forward, its fist enveloped in flame. It punched Slaking once before the sloth reacted with Hammer Arm, throwing it. Flying madly flapped its wings and whipped its tail around, managing to soften its landing.

"Aren't we just scaring it into attacking?" Kara asked.

"What other choice do we have? If we don't knock it out we can't help it."

Kara looked at Lance, her expression asking if it was true. Lance nodded, though still didn't make an attempt to help knock out the dragon.

Norman got a black and yellow Pokeball out, throwing it at Flygon. The Pokemon batted it back with its tail, nearly hitting Mara, scaring her into dropping the paper and pencil.

"Hey! I was just about to finish my masterpiece and now I can't remember the special ingredient! You'll pay for that!" She picked up the Pokeball that landed next to her and chucked it at Flygon, hitting it on the forehead. It went inside and the center of the Pokeball lit up once before it clicked.

Everyone stared at Mara.

"That was a Critical Capture. It happens when there's a slight glitch in a Pokeball's programming." Norman picked up the Pokeball. "The nurse at the Pokemon Center may know what happened to it."

Mara picked up the paper, brushed it off, picked up the pencil and tugged on Kara's pant leg to be picked up again. "Applesauce. That was it."

Flygon lied on a low table, slowly thumping its tail as it watched the nurse treat the rest of its injuries and examined its tail. It yawned out of boredom and set its head down, falling asleep.

The nurse exited the room, closing the door behind her and walked over to Kara and Norman.

"It will be fine after some rest. It looks like it got into a fight with another Pokemon and injured its tail in the process. It can happen when groups of Flygon migrate between Hoenn's deserts and the harsh deserts of Orre."

"Will it be able to get back home?" Kara asked.

The nurse shook her head. "It can't fly. There is an island between Mossdeep City and Sootopolis City where handicapped Flygon are trained to fly again. They get Flygon with injured tails and wings all the time there. The first one that was cared for still lives there and helps with the training."

"That's good. When will it be sent?"

"That's the problem… Because of recent robberies with the Pokeball Transport System, Flygon will have to be taken there."

Norman nodded and turned to Kara. "I'm too busy taking care of the Gym to take it there myself. Do you think you could? It would give Flygon a chance to fully recover and learn how to cooperate with other humans and Pokemon. You might even help it learn a different way of battling."

"Well…" Kara looked at Flygon, unsure and looked at Lance, who gave a nod.

"All Dragon-types have similar behavior patterns. I should be able to predict its actions."

Kara nodded and looked back at Norman. "I can do that."

Mara dropped the paper and pencil on the table she sat on. "It's finished! The secret ingredient shall be wasabi!"

A cloaked figure stood outside of the Pokemon Center, watching the Trainers inside, holding a Flygon's tail's scale in his hand. The Linoone at his side looked up, turning its head to one side.

The figure turned. "We're finished here. Let's go."

**Again Natalie belongs to sparkxplug13.**

**Special points to anyone that knows who the cloaked figure is.**

**And if you would like a certain anime character to appear or for Kara to get a certain Pokemon I might consider it.**

**The next chapter won't be for a while.**


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